Ensuring the past has a future

Developer chaired panel that gave out unprecedented preservation grants

(From left) Black Swamp Creek Land Trust Board Member Joanne Flynn of Aquasco, former Black Swamp School student Edna Adams of Aquasco, Councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Dist.9) of Clinton, and CEO and founder of Turner & Associates L.L.C. Henry C. Turner Jr. of Upper Marlboro all had a hand in getting restoration grants to restore the Black Swamp School in Upper Marlboro.

Edna Adams, 83, remembers waking up at 4 a.m. for the seven-mile walk to Black Swamp School, a one-room school for black children in Brandywine. The building — a one-room shack — is still there, and on a recent visit she sat on a bucket in the shade of a nearby oak tree.

"This is where we had recess," the Aquasco resident said. "It was hard times, but it was good times."

The school got a second lease on life in January after getting a $50,000 grant from what seemed like an unlikely source: Henry Turner, an Upper Marlboro resident, chairs the Prince George's County Historic Preservation Commission's Historic Property Grants Committee, which recently gave $500,000 in grants to 30 of the county's historic sites. Turner is also the CEO of Turner & Associates, LLC, an area development company.

Turner, 50, said it is unusual for a developer to get involved with preservation.

"It is, [but] long-term, the benefits will be for my children and my family, versus the short-term financial gain," he said.

The grants were the first historic preservation grants ever given out by the county, according to HPC President David Turner, who is not related to Henry Turner. They were approved Jan. 22 by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Grants went to two sites in Upper Marlboro — St. Thomas' Church and Kingston, a home built around 1730 — but Henry Turner said many of the other grants went to dilapidated houses, decaying churches and other African-American historical sites usually ignored by preservationists in favor of more impressive structures built by white people.

In order to spread money more evenly, the grants committee capped spending on each site at $50,000. David Turner said the HPC always meant to spread the grants around but credited Henry Turner with finding often-overlooked historical sites and insisting on caps.

One of those sites was Black Swamp School, "a run-down building that's falling apart in the middle of a field," Henry Turner said. "That's typically a building that would have been neglected and passed over."

David Turner said HPC members were skeptical of Henry Turner at first, wondering if a developer could really be committed to preservation. But he said members came to admire his ability to find common ground between developers, preservationists and county planners.

Even Joanne Flynn, the Brandywine resident who bought the Black Swamp School in 2007 to keep developers from tearing it down and who has opposed development efforts in Brandywine, said she was surprised by Henry Turner's performance.

"He realizes what the commission is about, and what historic preservation is about," she said. "He's come over to the other side."

Henry Turner said his real goal is to preserve African-American sites for his children. By doing so, he said, younger generations will have a better sense of their history, and their future.

"I hope they get a better understanding of where they came from, of how far we have gone, where we still need to go," he said.

Adams agreed, saying she wants to preserve Black Swamp School for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"I just wanted them to see where I came from, and where they are today," she said. "I surely will be bringing them down [when the building is renovated]. I'm looking forward to that day."